costuming | cosplay

Faux Mercury Glass Experience

I wanted to create some votive candle holders to double as décor and wedding favors, so I gathered my DiY wits about me and went after a beautiful vintage mercury glass look. There are tons of tutorials out there on how to do this, and I read several, devising a plan that worked!

My ingredients included 72 small votives purchased from amazon.com for about $36. What a deal! Add to that some painters tape, a squirt bottle, and metallic silver spray paint, and you’re ready to go.

Since the votives came neatly packaged in these boxes, I opted not to cover them entirely in tape. The cardboard shielded the bottoms just fine from extra overspray!

The key here is to spray the insides of the glasses with water to achieve an antiqued look, before spraying the paint.

On the porch with my tools and paper, so as to not continue to paint the concrete, like we’ve already done. Squirt and spray, and then leave them for a while, of course.

I also purchased some LED tea lights because, hey, it just seemed safer. No worries about kids or relatives lighting themselves on fire. Also, LED tea lights? Just kind of awesome. Here’s the look, along with my sample table centerpiece (and some other stuff that I have on the dining table). I love the soft, glowing look; I think it will really suit our reception location!

Did I mention this was ridiculously easy? It only took me a few hours to complete 50 votive holders (I’ve reserved 24 for other designs, mwah ha ha!), plenty for the decorations and our attendees. Next I will be creating the copper tags (saying “B & N”) to add to the votives, as a personal touch!